Important changes to the tournament calendar have been announced, the Galway Open will now be held in Moycullen on the Sat 27th & Sun 28th April with All Ireland Singles & Doubles Championships in Kingscourt on Sat 11th & Sun 12th May
Calendar

Sport Ireland are hosting a FREE 'Make Children Safer: Online & in Sport' webinar for Safeguarding Children in the Digital World means for Sport.

This webinar is aimed at parents/carers, volunteers, NGB’s, clubs, coaches & child welfare officers.

You will learn:
*The risks facing children in the digital world including bullying, sexting & grooming.
*How to educate & empower children to better protect themselves.
*How to mitigate the risks associated with consent & images.
*How to go beyond compliance to safeguarding children.
We encourage Racquetball Ireland members to register for this free webinar using the following link:
https://ineqe.com/webinar/


Webinar Date: Monday the 8th of October from 4.00 – 5.00pm.

CONGRATULATIONS to Joe Devenney(Ballinrobe) on winning gold and silver medals at the World Seniors Championships in Albuquerque, USA.
Devenney, a Derry native along with Roman Corales from Mexico won the 45+ Doubles and he was runner up in the 45+ Singles. In the 45+ Singles Final he was defeated by Ken Chesire of the USA.
Full Results:
http://www.r2sports.com/tourney/divisions/listAllDivs.asp…

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the Racquetball Association of Ireland will be held in the Creggan Court Hotel, Athlone, Co Westmeath on Sunday 9th September starting at 1pm.
Clubs should ensure that at least one delegate for your club attends this important meeting. For 2019, there are available vacancies on the committee:
• Assistant Secretary
• Development Officer
• Junior Development Officer
• Along with other positions that may arise.
Please email info@racquetball.ie if interested.

Ireland were placed in 14th place overall following the team's performances at the 19th IRF World Champoinships in San Jose, Costa Rica.
The Men's team of Mark Muphy, Johnny O`Keeney, Eoin Tynan & Ken Cottrell were placed in 15th place and the Women's Team of Aisling Hickey, Donna Ryder, Majella Haverty & Katie Kenny attained 13th place.

Noel O`Callaghan (Fermoy) and Rossmore`s Aisling Hickey ended the season as Irish number 1's for the 2017/18 season after winning at the Galway Open. O`Callaghan defeated National Champion Mark Murphy(Kilkenny) by 2 games to nil in the final match while Hickey defeated Majella Haverty(Castlebar) also by 2 games to nil in the Women's Open Singles final. Both players were presented with end of season awards sponsored by Mayo Crystal.

.Mark Murphy will relish the 2018 All Ireland Championships when he won his first Open Singles National title. Having been runner-up on four occasions he finally overcame the Noel O`Callaghan (Fermoy) the same player who defeated hiim in those four finals. The Kilkenny athlete beat O'Callaghan this time round by 2 games to nil in the final.
Aisling Hickey(Rossmore) contuinued her dominance in women's racquetbvall defeating Donna Ryder(Newport) by 2 games to nil to win her 8th title in a row. Other singles winners were Joe Devenney(Ballinrobe) Men's B Singles, Mike Haverty(Castlebar) Men's C Singles, Michael Barrett(Mitchelstown) Mens D Singles, Rosie Downey(Moycullen) Women's D Singles, Sabieta Lynch( Brideswell) Women's Novice Singles and Daniel Hanrahan(Galmaoy), the youngest ever winner of the Mens Novice Singles.

At the 33rd Arklow Open, Kilkenny's Mark Murphy added the Arklow Open Singles title to his Tralee title he won back in January. Selected at number 1 on the Irish team for the World Championships in August, Murphy defeated Noel O'Callaghan (Fermoy) by 2 games to 1. Aisling Hickey(Rossomre) continued her dominance of women's racquetball by winning the Womens Open Singles with a 2-0 victory over Majella Haverty(Castlebar).
Murphy made it a double when he teamed up with Stevis Quinn(Rossmore) to win the Open Doubles while Castlebar's  Katie Kenny & Majella Haverty won the Womens Open Doubles.
A very successful tournament for the Arklow Club after the disapointment of cancelling last years tournament. Well done to all.
Full Results